Before making his decision the judge heard Mrs Nash say on oath from the witness box that she believed her husband had ‘learnt his lesson’ and would not hit her any more.

The judge said: 'It is a difficult task for a judge to stand between a man and wife. They are joined together in wedlock and they want, apparently, to get back together again.

'For a judge to stand between them is, frankly, uncomfortable. But I have responsibilities towards her to ensure she is protected and not hurt in the future.

'If on April 1st next year their ardour remains and they still wish to resume their relationship it will entertain the application again.

'In short, softly, softly, gently, gently, step by step. If she tells me next year "I have now talked to him regularly and I am comfortable he understands he has got to behave" then I will lift the restraining order further.'

When Nash appeared in 2010 the court was told his behaviour towards his wife had deteriorated after about a year of marriage. He became violent, aggressive and there were a number of rows to which the police were called.

At around 2.30pm on June 15, 2010 she was on the phone to her sister when Nash lost his temper, grabbed the phone, told her to leave home, pushed her against the sofa and then knelt on her.Nash then pursued her into the street and brandished a piece of wood.

In another incident, he went to her workplace and threatened to petrol bomb his mother-in-law’s car during a row.

Nash was sentenced to a two-year supervision order, a restraining order for seven years, and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Today the court was told he had complied fully with all the orders but the probation service felt he was not really committed to changing and did not fully understand the seriousness of his offences.Nash’s solicitor Lloyd Jenkins told the court he made the application for the lifting of the restraining order as a result of receiving a letter from Mrs Nash.

'She says she wants to give the marriage a second chance,' he said. 'He doesn’t want a divorce either. He is lonely and he is willing to give it a second try as well.'

In evidence Mrs Nash agreed with the judge that it was a case of ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ and that she had to some extent forgotten about Nash’s violence towards her.

'Do you really think he is not going to whack you any more?' asked the judge. 'I think he has learnt his lesson,' she replied.

'What would you do if he whacked you just once?' the judge asked.

'I don’t know,' she said.

'That’s what worries me,' the judge said. 'None of it is your fault. No man has a right to whack his girlfriend or wife ever, ever, ever. The problem is he will make you think it’s your fault and you won’t do anything about it.'

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